Returning from our imaginative re-construction to our own explicit frame of reference, we now see an active agent, acting from her own desire. No more movement, no more hurry, no more leaving. An act of resistance, both to the immediate pressure to hurry away from everything she cared about, and, possibly, to the idea of leaving at all. In this final moment, perhaps she preferred to stay than to leave. Rather than being pulled along according to the desire of others -- the angels, her husband, God, her daughters -- this is the moment when Iris asserts her self, when she acts. This is the moment when she takes stock of her entire life and her various prospects, and chooses her future. This is the moment when she is no longer silenced, when we hear her voice saying: "No. I will not obey. I choose to look. I am willing to bear the consequences of my action." This is the moment when her Self, her "I" comes through to us loud and clear, and we catch a glimpse of the person Iris.
The lesson we can learn from Iris is that there is always choice. No matter how small the range of actions open to us, there is always some way in which we can determine our own fate. Yes, she dies. She is turned into a pillar of salt. And yet, she has become immortal. We remember her. And the midrash even names her Iris, 'witness', as the pillar of salt stands in eternal testimony. In the biblical text we even see an example of this lesson being enacted by her daughters when, no longer passive, they act decisively to ensure their own continuity. However others may attempt to direct and dominate us, whether from motivations of compassion or of oppression, there is always some way to choose. Iris shows us an example of the power of action, of choice, of resistance, of self: they can never control us if we remember who we are.
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